MR. McCLELLAN: Hello, everybody. Let me go through the President's
day. As you heard in the President's press avail, he spoke with
President Chirac earlier this morning. The President offered our
condolences to those injured and the families of the victims in the
collapse of the roof of Charles DeGaulle Airport. The two leaders also
discussed the Security Council resolution on Iraq and the way forward
in Iraq -- you have some comments from the President on that already.
They noted that there was broad agreement on the resolution in a number
of areas, and they also talked about adjustments to be done in other
areas of the resolution.

Q Who noted that, the President?

MR. McCLELLAN: They noted that there was broad agreement on the
resolution in a number of areas, but that there are adjustments to be
done in other areas. And the President emphasized the importance of
the United States, France and the international community working
together to support the Iraqi people as we move forward.

And the President -- the two Presidents also talked about the
greater, or broader Middle East and the progress we are making in
preparation for the G8 summit. And the President thanked President
Chirac for his efforts in the broader Middle East, as well.

And the Freedom Corps greeter upon arrival is Sidney, or "Sid"
Harris. He has been an active volunteer at a local hospital for the
past 15 years, where he performed more than 4,000 hours of service
assisting patients and comforting their friends and family.

And then the President looks forward to participating in a
conversation on health care and community health centers at Youngstown
State University. He will be joined by the administrator of the
Health, Resources and Service Administration, the CEO of a health care
system, an OB/GYN doctor and two community health center patients. And
we'll get you background information on that, as well. You also have a
fact sheet that I think Josh -- oh, Josh has in his hand, he'll get to
you here momentarily.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I mean, those are the consultations that
we're continuing to have with member nations on the Security Council,
and others. I think -- well, one, we had an initial round of
consultations before moving forward with the draft resolution
yesterday. And there is a general consensus about the importance of
moving forward on a resolution and showing our support for a free and
peaceful and democratic Iraq. And, obviously, when resolutions are put
forward like this, there is always likely to be some changes made as we
move forward.

But we appreciate the support from members of the Security Council
for moving forward on a Security Council resolution.

Q Scott, one of the tricky issues seems to be what the
relationship will be between this multinational force and the Iraqi
forces that would be under the new Iraqi interim government. Prime
Minister Blair said some things this morning that have been read as
indicating that the Iraqis would have veto power over the multinational
force -- in other words, the Iraqis could say, "No, we don't want you
to do an operation," and the multinational force wouldn't be able to go
ahead.

Is that -- is that accurate? Is that what he meant to say?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the way you should look at it is that we'll
be working in partnership and in cooperation with the interim
government. As the President said in his remarks earlier today, or his
comments to the pool earlier today, he talked about that we're there to
help the Iraqi people when they assume -- when they are given
sovereignty back June 30th, and that we will be there to work with
Iraqi security forces.

So I think you should look at it in that context. The resolution
talks about how the multinational force will be in Iraq with the
consent of the interim government. And it talks about how the
relationship between the interim government and the multinational force
will be spelled out in a letter.

Q But the multinational force doesn't have to have the consent
of the Iraqis to go ahead with any individual operation, do they?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's why I emphasized that we're going to
be working in cooperation and partnership with the Iraqi security
forces. We're there to help them as we move forward to a free and
peaceful Iraq. And I think it's important to note that we have
experience in addressing these matters. We do this on a daily basis in
Afghanistan. We certainly have experience in Bosnia in working on
these matters. So we'll be there working in partnership with the Iraqi
security forces and working in coordination with the interim
government, and I think that's the way to look at it.

Q Do we have to have their consent, yes or no?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, the Security Council resolution points
out that we'll be acting in Iraq with the consent of the interim
government -- that's spelled out in the Security Council resolution
draft that's been put forward.

Q Do you think that's the same as veto --

MR. McCLELLAN: Frankly, in terms of all the details about the
relationship, that's going to be spelled out more in a letter that will
be presented to the Security Council, as well.

Q A letter from whom to whom?

MR. McCLELLAN: It will be presented -- in a letter that will be
presented to the President of the Security Council.

Q I just want to be really clear on this. You're saying that
we have to have the consent of the Iraqis to be there, to have a
multinational force. What I'm asking is, does the multinational force
have to have consent for everything they do?

MR. McCLELLAN: Essentially, I'm saying two things. One, we will
be there with the consent of the interim government, because
sovereignty will be transferred by June 30th -- we've already made that
very clear, they will have full sovereignty. And then the second point
I'm making is that we are going to work in close cooperation with that
interim government. We will be there to partner with the Iraqis as
they move forward to assume more responsibility for their security and
for their future.

Q When does that letter go?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's all being -- the draft has been put
forward; this is all being discussed with the Security Council and
we'll let that all be worked out amongst the Security Council.

Q From President Bush to the Security Council?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think it will be a letter that will be part
of -- it will be part of the resolution going forward. Obviously, you
have to get the first step in place, first, which is the naming of the
interim government. And Mr. Brahimi is continuing to work on those
efforts. We need to let that interim government be named, and then
we'll move forward on the resolution after that time.

Q Two other quick questions for you. One, does the President
know the names of the interim government leaders that Brahimi has
already selected?

MR. McCLELLAN: One, Mr. Brahimi has been working closely with
Iraqi leaders as he moves forward to form that interim government.
He's also been in close consultation with Ambassador Bremer and
others. He's been in -- obviously, he's been in contact with Secretary
General Annan, I'm sure, on these issues, as well. I'm not going to
get into talking about those conversations or discussions, but Mr.
Brahimi is the one that will be moving forward on naming who the
members of the interim government are. And then, there's a process
after that for getting them in place.

Q I'm not asking you to detail --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I understand, and I'm not --

Q I'm just wondering, "yes" or "no" if President Bush knows the
names.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he's very well aware of the process that is
going on. And he's received updates from his team in Iraq on that
process. And that team has been in close contact with Mr. Brahimi.

Q You've said in the past the Democrats are exploiting what you
call "loopholes" by using 527s. Now Republicans are forming their own
to promote President Bush's reelection. What's the difference?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, I think everybody understands the
importance of playing by the same rules when it comes to the campaign.
But we have previously expressed our concerns about the loopholes in
the campaign finance reforms that were passed. But in terms of what's
being done, I don't know what other groups or outside people are
doing.

Q So you can't say whether the President knows about these new
527s that are being formed to help his reelection?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we can't coordinate with any groups that may
or may not be formed. I think that, under the law, these groups
already have to be in place prior to when the law was passed.

Q -- the guy who started the Pioneers --

MR. McCLELLAN: You might want to -- you might want to check on
that.

Q I'm asking you, because the same guy who started the Pioneers
is starting a new 527 for President Bush. But you're not aware of it?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's part of -- it will spell out more about the
relationship between the multinational force and the interim Iraqi
government that will be in place. Like I said, we have a lot of
experience in working in close cooperation with others on things of
this nature -- on security situations. Like I pointed out, we do this
on a daily basis in Afghanistan. We work in close cooperation with the
government in Afghanistan.

Q Who's going to write it? Who puts it together, the
coalition, or the U.S.? Who writes it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that that's going to be worked on.
You have to first get the interim government in place, I think, before
you can work out some of those -- some of those relationships. But
we're going to -- we'll work in close partnership with the interim
government.

Q This letter won't go anywhere until after June 30th, then?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that -- like I said, the interim --
no, no, I wouldn't put that time frame on it. The interim government,
we expect, will be announced soon by Mr. Brahimi. And then those
issues will be discussed more -- then those issues will be discussed
more with the interim government at that point. And that relationship
will be worked out in further detail.

Q Isn't it meant to be sort of an exchange of letters that
follows the U.N. Security Council --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sure that -- look, all that's going to be
worked out with the interim government. We've got to -- the interim
government needs to be put in place first. So let's let --

Q So you don't know when the letter will be written or when it
will submitted?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- let's let that happen first. Well, the first
step is to get the interim government in place, get those people named
and Mr. Brahimi is working on that. And as we pointed out yesterday
when we put forward the draft resolution, we would come back -- we
would work on passing that resolution once that interim government is
named.

Q Anything on Sanchez? Sanchez? Does the President has
confidence?

MR. McCLELLAN: Oh yes, absolutely, and our President talked about
him earlier today, said he's done a fabulous job, and the President
believes he's served admirably and with distinction in Iraq and
appreciates the job he has done. He thinks he's done -- he thinks he's
done a terrific job.

Q Why doesn't he think --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I'm not going to get into speculating or
talking about any announcements, that if they happen, they would come
out of the Pentagon. If there are any announcements to make, they'd be
coming out of the Pentagon. But I think people have talked about how
you always have to look at some of the planned rotations that are in
place. And I think the Pentagon has pointed out that some of the
questions that have been raised about Abu Ghraib, that there's no
relation there to any decisions that may or may not be made.